They are in their thirties, meaning they are “ much too young” to have felt the vibrations of the ska revival of the late 1970s and early 1980s live, when The Specials, The Selecter, Madness and the likes of The Beat were electrifying England at a time when social tensions were running high and were getting brass missiles into the charts, hitting all of Europe. Far too young, it goes without saying, to have experienced the initial shakes of the music that would fuel all that was to come: 1960s Jamaican ska and its later evolutions, bluebeat or rocksteady, from which reggae drew its essence and fever. They are neither from Kingston nor Brixton, but from Montreuil, Paris suburbs, where you can just about see the twin towers Les Mercuriales on the horizon, making their anglicized name an allusion to their dual identity, a French heart with a British soul, with a side of the Caribbean. The Mercurials are proudly raising the torch they have taken up and have something to tell you: this music is as alive, as vibrant and as invigorating as in the early days. They have been making their mark on French stages with their rippling rhythms, opening for The Selecter, Jim Murple Memorial, The Steady 45's, The Slackers or Asian Dub Foundation. The Specials were singing “enjoy yourself”, 45 years later, the invitation still stands and what a joy it is!